Western Morning News (Saturday)
‘Fridget Jones’ Marine takes on marathon
AROYAL Marine who will run the London Marathon while carrying a fridge called Fridget Jones has said he is “confident” he will earn a Guinness World Record for the feat.
Sam Hammond, 30, of RNAS Culdrose in Cornwall, has already broken the world record for the fastest male half-marathon carrying a household appliance (white goods) after running the Brighton Half-Marathon earlier this year in two hours four minutes and 13 seconds.
Now he is on track to complete the London Marathon in record time this weekend with his partner Samantha, 28, running at his side.
“Initially I did a race to raise money for Llanberis Mountain Rescue in Snowdonia,” Mr Hammond said. “So I’m used to carrying the fridge for miles at a time. It’s the time pressure that’s really going to make this a challenge.
“I’m aiming to come in a fair amount under [the record], hopefully under the five-and-a-half hour mark.” Mr Hammond is racing to raise money for SSAFA, the armed forces charity, which has supported his family. He has collected more than £2,700 for his marathon attempt, and has raised over £6,000 in total from his fridge runs.
He will attempt to beat the current record for the fastest marathon carrying a household appliance (white goods) which stands at 5hs 49m, 37s.
Fridget Jones weighs 26.3kg and Mr Hammond recently posted a weigh-in video on his Instagram page @Man-Vs-Fridge to dispel rumours that Fridget is a fake.
“I am definitely nervous about the physical exhaustion element,” he said. “I’m certain that I’ll finish the race but I don’t know how my body will react in the last six miles. The furthest I’ve run before is 20 miles.”
Mr Hammond’s partner, Samantha, has been training with him and will run the marathon to raise money for the British Heart Foundation.
“As a Royal Marine you learn in basic training what the human body is truly capable of, and you realise that you can achieve more than you ever realised.”
A Plymouth nurse and former Royal Air Force veteran is also set to take on the London Marathon this weekend for a worthy cause. Sarah Clarke, who is currently a nursing sister on the acute care team at Derriford Hospital, is raising muchneeded funds for the Royal British Legion. Sarah, aged 43, from Higher St Budeaux, spent nine years in the military with the Royal Air Force serving as a critical care nurse. In that time, she was deployed on three occasions to the Role 3 Hospital in Camp Bastion, Afghanistan.
Sarah says she is “privileged” to have been offered a coveted RBL charity place for the marathon, and she hopes to raise £2,000.